DIY Box Lunch for a Picnic or Party

When my daughter and I decided to host a Box Lunch Bridal Shower, the only thing we knew was that we wanted the boxes to be tied with ribbon. Not a heck of a lot to go on! So…we did some internet searching and shopping to come up with the perfect DIY Box Lunch for a Picnic or Party. Here’s how we did it. (Complete list of sources is at the end of the post.)

First the menu. We went back and forth a while trying to decide on something easy to pack as well as easy to eat. In the end we went with Chicken Salad, Pasta Salad, a small croissant, mixed fruit and Sun Chips.

The boxes. After looking around on Pinterest, we decided on brown kraft boxes measuring 9 x 7 x 3.5. We found them at papermart.com for a reasonable price. The only problem was that they shipped in sets of 40 and we needed 50. We got them anyway because we just couldn’t find anything better. So we have a few extra!

The containers. We went to our local Gordon Food Service and bought 8 oz. plastic containers. We planned to put 3 of these containers in the boxes but found out they wouldn’t fit. We switched to two 8 oz. containers (chicken salad and pasta salad) and one 5 oz. container (fruit.)

The bags. We knew we wanted some sort of specialty bags for the croissant and chips. We shopped Etsy and found just the right thing.

Thankfully we packaged a croissant and some chips about a week before the shower to see how they would taste after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. They tasted fine but the food oil soaked through the bags. It was incredibly tacky! So we used cellophane bags as a liner to solve that problem. We folded the bags over and sealed them with a round white sticker.

The flatware. We found some plastic silver flatware at Gordon Food Service. At first glance it looked like the real thing so we decided to try it. After we wrapped it in the napkins and tied a bow around it we thought it was a great choice.

Once we had all the elements in place we had to figure out how to fit it all in the box. That took some trial and error but after a few tries we came up with something that looked nice but not crowded. We lined the boxes with wax deli paper. The first layer contained the chicken salad, croissant, fruit and chips.

The second layer was the pasta salad and flatware/napkin.

The finishing touch was tying a double layer of ribbon around each box. Even though it was a bit tedious, this was my favorite part of the whole thing!

We assembled the boxes the night before the shower and stowed them away in the refrigerator overnight. A few minutes before guests started to arrive we neatly stacked them on the dining room table. That was it. Not even 10 minutes on the day of the shower and the food was taken care of. If you missed it, you can see our dessert table in yesterday’s post.

Helpful hints learned the hard way. Make sure to try out everything ahead of time. We ran into a few problems that had we waited could have been disastrous. Make sure everything fits in your box and can sit overnight in a refrigerator. Prioritize the DIY aspect. What I mean by this is don’t feel like you have to do/make EVERYTHING yourself. We made the pasta salad but we bought the chicken salad. We had help with the fruit and opted for a dessert table instead of packing a dessert for the boxes. Where you can take a shortcut…do it. Don’t be afraid to use plastic flatware/cups/containers. After all…it’s a casual meal in a casual setting.

I’ve tried to list as close to the exact product source as I can. I couldn’t source the ribbon because we literally walked in Hobby Lobby and bought every spool of gray or green ribbon they had! IKEA changes their stock seasonally but they always have awesome paper products to choose from in a variety of colors. We lucked out totally with the green napkins.

Thoughts from my friends...

I love this idea!! If you don’t mind about how much did it cost to pull all that together? I can price it myself if you’d rather not share, just trying to see if it’s in my budget at all. I am planning a super casual intimate beach wedding and I’m thinking the boxes will be perfect with keeping sand out of the food and yet still look great! Thanks for sharing!

Just able to check in and see what you have been up to! Some weeks just don’t allow for reading blogs!

Love love love this idea. I saw something like this in a recent Better Homes and Gardens and thought, “Now THAT is a great idea!” All your tips and advice in this post are just solid. Seriously Ann…this is the type of post that brings people to reading blogs. Great photos, great advice, links to sources, tips on what could go wrong. You should link this everywhere.

Ann, what a great idea. It sure makes it less stressful the day of the party. It looks so great the way you have it in the box. Thanks for the wonderful pictures and telling us where you found everything. Love your blog. Yarlette

They’re adorable and look so yummy. How did you fit so many boxes in your fridge though. I would have been afraid they wouldn’t all fit and the salads have to be refrigerated. I love how simple it made it on the day of the shower. Oh and the ribbon would have been my favourite part as well.

We fit most of the boxes in my garage refrigerator. I had emptied it out so we would be sure to have enough room. I removed 2 shelves and we just stacked up the boxes. We had just a few left to bring into the kitchen refrig. That was a little tricky but we made it work!

I really love this idea and I’m going to put it to use one of these days! I love cooking for parties, but it does take an incredible amount of time the day of. How smart to finish it all the day before and package it so prettily! Beautiful job!

Awesome idea and tips! I’ve pinned it and tweeted it. Next is facebook, because I have lots of friends with weddings to plan for their grown children. :-) Thank you again, Ann, for a fabulous post!
His blessings,
Kim @ Curtain Queen

Hi Patricia! No…it was close though. I have a refrig. in the garage and we took out one shelf and just stacked the boxes up. The overflow came back into the house. Thankfully we didn’t have to borrow anyone’s refrigerator space!

Ohmygoodness, Ann … what a creative, beautiful and genius idea! Your lunch boxes are nothing short of fabulous! And, to see them all set on a crisp, white tablecloth is perfection! Your guests must’ve been so very impressed!

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